Do you ever listen to a song so many times that you grow to hate it? I’m sure we’ve all been there. Now, imagine writing a song and, as it grows in popularity, you simultaneously grow to hate it? This is easy to imagine and is rather common for artists. These artists penned a massive hit and later grew to regret the track. We certainly don’t regret our love for these songs, though.
“smells like teen spirit” by nirvana
Aside from this song accidentally referencing women’s deodorant, Kurt Cobain was embarrassed by how overplayed this hit was on MTV. In a 1994 interview with Rolling Stone, Cobain explained, “Once it got into the mainstream, it was over. I’m just tired of being embarrassed by it. I’m beyond that. I can barely, especially on a bad night, get through ‘Teen Spirit.’ I literally want to throw my guitar down and walk away.” Though Kurt did explain that he would feel this way about any of his songs if they’d gotten as popular.
“creep” by radiohead
In 1992, Radiohead penned a grunge hit that would become the band’s signature track. They’d rather it not be their signature hit, though. Lead singer Thom Yorke came to detest the track that incorrectly labeled the band a one-hit wonder for years to follow. Though they penned multiple hits in the coming years, none were as big as “Creep”. Therefore, the band felt their biggest hit didn’t represent their true sound.
“cherry pie” by warrant
Warrant lead singer-songwriter Jani Lane sought to take glam metal into more mature terrain. Abandoning sappy love songs and party rock anthems for lyrical content with more depth. The label didn’t like this, and they demanded they pen a radio anthem. Jani Lane wrote “Cherry Pie” in less than 20 minutes to satisfy the label. Their upcoming album was already titled Uncle Tom’s Cabin when the label took over, renaming the album Cherry Pie.
As the track raced the charts and peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100, the label organized a pie-eating contest to promote the album. Lane felt this damaged his credibility as a songwriter, going against his initial plans to innovate glam rock.
In an interview with VH1, Lane stated, “My legacy is ‘Cherry Pie’. Everything about me is ‘Cherry Pie.’ I’m the ‘Cherry Pie’ guy. I could shoot myself in the f**king head for writing that song.”
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